Just recently, however, we reported that the dense HA surface capsule of pathogenic Group A streptococcus S. pyogenes, the causative agent of tonsillitis and necrotizing fasciitis, can bind LYVE-1 in lymphatic endothelium and that the interaction directs lymphatic dissemination of the microbe, thus indicating that the receptor is in fact active in vivo (37). This evidence concerns the gene LYVE1 and tonsillitis.